For those unfamiliar with the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, the recently passed tax reform applying to alcoholic beverage manufacturers, the short of it is that the legislation offers two years of heavy relief from federal excise taxes applied to one of the most severely taxed industries in the US. So, what are craft brewers, distillers, and vintners going to do with it? For most, the word is grow.
The tax breaks will translate into substantial annual savings for these craft beverage makers, between $20,000 and $100,000 to be more precise, and allow them to hire more staff, expand operations, and invest in marketing to build their brands.
Brewer Benefits
For many of the nation’s thousands of small breweries, the tax break of $3.50, effectively halving the previous $7.00, on the first 60,000 barrels(BBL) produced for domestic breweries producing less than 2 million BBL annually, will be a desperately needed lifeline. To put things into perspective, that $7 has been anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent of the total cost of that BBL.
For many of the nation’s thousands of small breweries, the tax break of $3.50 effectively halves the previous $7.00.
Competing with the likes of D. G. Yuengling & Son, Inc, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, and Boston Beer Co., mom-and-pop and Main-street brew operations have had a hard time coming up in an industry that has seen improved performance year on year but is at the same time contracting. An extra $20,000 going towards a brewpub can provide another part-time employee, new vats, advertising, and a host of other potentially powerful tools to aid expansion. Some operations will transcend the modest manufacturing operations to the regional scale and evolve into full-blown enterprises as a result. With new enterprise comes new concerns, including accounting, production, distribution, and, perhaps the most significant hurdle of even the most robust ERP solutions, tax responsibilities.
Distiller Details
The same positive outlook is true of the States’ 1,500 craft distillers who are already seeing big benefits from the change. The tax cuts bring federal excise taxes for distillers down significantly from $13.50 to $2.70 per proof gallon, applying to the first 100,000 gallons per year for a two-year period. Used to its maximum benefit, the savings translates to $2.16 million. With taxes on distilled spirits among the highest in the US, reaching more than 50 percent of a product’s purchase price in many cases, the relief is more than welcome from the craft distillers of America.
Used to maximum benefit, the savings in taxes translate to $2.16 million annually for craft distillers.
The industry workforce has grown to 20,000 with a cumulative investment total of $600 million in the last decade alone. Compare that to Jack Daniel’s Distilleries, which blows through that 100,000-gallon tax break in one day of production, and the future is only looking brighter for the craft distillers of America.
Vintners Toast Approval
Wine is another beneficiary of the latest excise tax reform, albeit with a slightly more complicated structure. Wine is taxed based on alcohol content with new rates applied to those containing 16 percent or less of alcohol, 16 percent to 21 percent, and 21 percent to 24 percent. These categories are taxed 21-cents, 31-cents, and 62-cents per bottle respectively. The benefits are a bit easier to see with a broader view. Let’s first take the initial 30,000 gallons a winery produces. Each of these barrels receives a $1 credit per gallon. The following 100,000 gallons receive a 90-cent tax credit and a 53.5-cent credit is applied to the next 620,000 gallons. All wine produced after that is taxed at the standard rate. The new tax rates are a far cry better than those previously afforded to the small wineries of America and when used to their fullest potential can provide craft vintners more than $450,000 in tax credits.
When used to their fullest potential, the tax breaks can provide craft vintners more than $450,000 in tax credits.
With the results of the tax reform already taking effect, it’s not hard to see why the craft beverage manufacturers of America are celebrating. This reduction of excise taxes will afford the burgeoning craft beverage industry considerable capacity for expansion over the next two years and we can’t wait to see where the influx of capital will take up and coming enterprises.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) costs can cripple a manufacturer’s bottom line, especially when the required work compounds problems by impacting production to a significant degree. Implementing a dynamic ERP solution, like Epicor ERP, can address the issue before it becomes a problem. Through an effective mix of Quality Assurance and Asset Management modules, Epicor has built a powerful solution to specifically tackle the tasks associated with maintenance management, from Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to multinational corporations.
Industry 4.0 – Machine Learning As An Essential Tool
By leveraging the Industrial Internet of Things and modern data analytics, manufacturers are finding that machine learning is the next essential tool in keeping their operations running at peak performance. These tools provide manufacturers with more and better data to ensure impacts that are detrimental to business are circumvented even before becoming roadblocks.
Manufacturers Are Finding That Machine Learning Is The Next Essential Tool In Keeping Their Operations Running At Peak Performance.
According to John Fryer, senior director of industry solutions at fault-tolerant computer servers and software company Stratus, on his partnership with TransCanada, “data is now being collected from every turbine, pump and compression station, and fed back to a centralized control room. The data is then integrated and analyzed…to identify trends and enable predictive maintenance to be carried out.”
Stratus is currently working in tandem with TransCanada to maintain the operation of the gas company’s 57,000 miles of pipelines. The network often stretches into in rural and remote regions, which makes monitoring and predictive maintenance even more essential.
ROI With ERP Solutions
Because of improved monitoring, quality assurance, and asset management, manufacturers receive significant savings when it comes to MRO costs. By providing a comprehensive and fully-integrated approach to the calibration and upkeep of systems and equipment, manufacturers employing ERP solutions in their facilities can operate at maximum runtime to secure an optimum return on their total costs.
Improved Monitoring, Quality Assurance, And Asset Management Allow Manufacturers To Realize Significant Savings When It Comes To MRO Costs.
In the case of TransCanada, savings between $16m and $17m were measured in the first year following implementation alone. That’s just one success story. When an entire industry employs such advancements in how operations are maintained, the savings can compound by an order of magnitude.
How Epicor ERP Addresses Predictive Maintenance
Through the Maintenance Management module of Epicor’s ERP solution, manufacturers gain extensive support for maintenance request processing, planned preventive maintenance (according to predefined schedules), and improvised break/fix maintenance processing for a single piece of equipment. When it comes to the facilities themselves and production equipment housed within, maintenance can be scheduled according to a pre-defined service interval, usage, time or through manual requests. Once these work orders have been identified in the system, the upkeep planner can schedule equipment downtime and exchange resources or materials on the fly. The complete history of these machines, materials, and work orders are tracked using many metrics, including the in-service date, equipment location, warrant expiration date, and preventative maintenance plans based on either time or meter frequencies.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
A new industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, is blending automation and data exchange in ways that have never been possible before. The change has strengthened the concept of a “smart factory” that integrates cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing, and cognitive computing to create an increasingly cooperative relationship between man and machine throughout the manufacturing process.
Industry 4.0 Connects Cyber-physical Systems To Blend Automation And Data Exchange In Ways That Have Never Been Possible Before.
Some fantastic developments regarding the future of employment in this new landscape were revealed in a report released last week by the Association of Advancing Automation (A3). The document detailed how interconnectivity, automation and, more specifically, robots work to create increasingly valuable and necessary work roles. Keep reading to find out how the skills gap is being addressed at home and abroad and how worker wages figure into the equation.
Automation: Replacing The Mundane With The Mechatronic
As advancements in automation and robotics reach a new zenith, individuals and organizations can more effectively and affordably integrate these mechatronic marvels into their manufacturing processes. Able to complete simple tasks with a high degree of quality, these robots enable the current manufacturing workforce, and those entering the field, to approach more complex and demanding roles in the workplace. As a result, new approaches to training and education are required to prepare workers in how best to leverage these technologies and improve productivity. The same is true not just for manufacturing but an array of industries, including hospitality, transportation, and healthcare.
The New Wave Of Automation Robotics Will Come Bearing Gifts.
New Careers For An Existing Workforce
The results of automation are far from the sound bites and headlines predicting an end to the job market as we know it. In a sense it’s true, but hardly from a negative standpoint. While automation does eat up the roles charged with repetitive and simple tasks, it enables the workforce to take on more complex responsibilities that lead to further productivity and profitability. A poignant example with a focus on banking was offered at last week’s A3 conference.
Automation And Robotics Will Give Rise To New Careers And Employment Opportunities.
With the arrival of the ATM, many people thought the role of the bank teller would go the way of the dodo. Long story short: it did not. The number of bank tellers fell by about a third. This presented banks with the opportunity to open more branches, approximately 40% more during that time, with the money saved by allowing machines take over the mundane cash-handling roles. More employees were then hired to fulfill more intellectually-demanding careers, such as relationship banking and credit and finance management. With these new roles came the need for more advanced training to adequately prepare the workforce to fill such positions.
Education, Certification, And Resurrection Of The Apprenticeship
As the number of opportunities in new careers grows because of increased automation, advances in educating and certifying a more talented workforce need to take place.
Based on data from the OECD, the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the University Grants Commission of India, Germany, India, and China have produced the greatest human investment in STEM fields over the last 15 years, with graduates in these sectors rising 170, 110, and 150 percent respectively. The US and South Korea have only increased their number of graduates by 40 and 20 percent in the same timeframe. Japan has foundered and seen a 10 percent reduction in STEM degrees. The top performers have been pushing STEM efforts beginning at the K-12 level, while additionally enhancing vocational training courses, and strengthening community college and university offerings that are attractive to employers in the manufacturing sector.
Employers Have Been Addressing The Talent Gap By Building From Within Through Apprenticeships And On-The-Job Training.
According to the Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, executives across the board agree that the biggest hurdle in advancing their operations in manufacturing is talent. It is estimated that 60% of critical positions in manufacturing remain unfilled. Beyond lack of qualified individuals, the time it takes to recruit, interview, and bring hires up to speed in the workplace can take as long as three months for engineering and research positions and two months for skilled production workers.
Employers have been addressing the hurdle by building from within through apprenticeships and on-the-job training. University isn’t appealing to or even practical for everybody, but with quality educational resources at their disposal, employees who find themselves with just a high-school degree can receive relevant, high-level training while at work or be compensated for continuing their education through external institutions. For example, Amazon has created its Career Choice program for hourly employees. Designed to give workers the opportunity to learn skills for in-demand jobs, the program pays for 95% of tuition costs towards robotics, computer science, engineering, and IT courses. Amazon even offers on-site classrooms to make the learning process as convenient as possible for participants. Programs like these make the benefits of automation clear: with labor freed and profits increased, companies can invest in their workforces to scale competently with growth.
Industry 4.0: Competition Breeds Opportunity For Workers
Beyond the opportunities for advancing education, compensation packages have steadily increased for talented workers in manufacturing. From back office to the shop floor, these employees can demand elite-level paychecks with benefits to boot. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, entry-level positions in manufacturing begin at $20 an hour with the total compensation for manufacturing jobs reaching an average of $81,000 including benefits, compared to the average of $63,000 for all nonfarm workers.
Automation Has Paved The Way For More Rewarding Positions And Opportunities Beyond The Assembly Line.
Perhaps it has been true in the past that the world’s manufacturing personnel feared robots would take over the shop floor to the detriment of a human workforce. However, the data reveals they’ve only paved the way for more rewarding positions and opportunities beyond the assembly line.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
Your operations are scaling nicely at HQ, but coordinating with remote resources and even inter-departmentally in real-time is proving to be a significant hurdle. Most of your team is in-house, while any number of employees can be out on the road, on the manufacturing facility floor, or logging in remotely. However, you need everyone connected and on the same page to be functioning at 100%. A robust ERP system fro the likes of Epicor keeps everything in the pipeline and within arm’s reach, but you’ll be pinned to the desktop when making any significant maneuvers that rely on data from your ERP systems.
Bezlio Offers Mobile ERP Solutions To Users On The Move
Developed by Bezlio in 2016 as a response to a workforce that is increasingly on the move, the platform grants remote and secure access to the crucial data you need to reference or readjust, from anywhere.
With an agile approach to utilizing resources remotely, Bezlio delivers a modern solution to operations that provides stability and agility in a constantly shifting environment. Keep your sales team, warehouse procedures, and audits in line and on point with live data your workforce can access on their mobile phones and tablets.
Bezlio is not just a fancy interface for mobile devices. It is exactly what you want it to be, with the capability to take shape according to your needs. Robust and detailed dashboards can be created for every department, putting the data employees and executives have to see right in front of them for a streamlined process from every angle. You gain essential insights from everything, including parts inventory and payroll sheets all the way out to the big picture with quarterly trends, annual projections, and beyond.
Up And Running In A Fraction Of The Time
Compared to traditional ERP implementations, which can take months and even years to complete depending on the size of an operation, Bezlio can go from “in box” to “in action” in a day. Don’t know exactly what you want out of a dashboard or how to go about creating one? That’s OK: Bezlio has pre-made templates for your essential divisions to get them started straight away. Each template can be altered as you see fit. These exist for everything from sales to distribution, rapidly mobilizing your data for use in any direction the business day can take you.
Have existing software you need integrated? Bezlio already has direct compatibility with the most widely used enterprise tools. Plugins for Salesforce, Microsoft SQL Server, Epicor ERP, ODBC and Crystal Reports are already available.
Modern Security Without Compromise
Depending on who you’re talking to, ‘cloud’ can be considered a four-letter word. Security is on everyone’s mind, but with Bezlio you never have to compromise the integrity of your sensitive data when working in the cloud.
The platform utilizes a token-based entry system. Meaning, only those users, and their associated devices, that have been specifically granted access to the platform can access the data. Going further, admins can restrict exactly which subsets of data each user can access at any given time.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
in Industry 4.0, Manufacturers and distributors have access to data on a scale that has never existed before. The two are leveraging the insights gleaned from that access to pursue new innovations in automation and systems that are reshaping the face of these industries. Pairing innovations like these with a robust ERP solution is the most effective way to ensure your business is prepared to address emerging technology trends that can reshape your industry overnight. Learn more about emerging technologies in manufacturing and Industry 4.0 to remain to be the competition, rather than simply competitive.
Industry 4.0
First, there was industry 1.0, the emergence of mechanization, as well as water-, steam-, and fossil fuel-powered systems. This was followed by mass production of goods, assembly line manufacturing, and electricity powering it all in Industry 2.0. With 3.0 came computers and automation using robotics. Today, we’ve reached the next milestone in revolutionizing Industry. Connecting established trends and emerging technologies between automation and data exchange in manufacturing is Industry 4.0. Also referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, it is focused on bringing cyber-physical systems into the mainstream and placing them at the forefront of the manufacturing industry.
The first Industry 4.0 conference was held last week by Troy, Michigan-based Automation Alley (AA), a non-profit tech and manufacturing business association that connects industry, academia, and government to accelerate innovation in manufacturing. During the conference, a report outlining what AA and industry experts see as the next wave of industry tech to influence innovation emerged. In the report, a roadmap outlined several core technologies that professionals and researchers agree will direct the trajectory of manufacturing in the coming years.
Noting the biggest challenge of innovation on the manufacturing floor as supply-side participants being able to keep up, executive director of Automation Alley Tom Kelly remained optimistic, stating, “The world (of manufacturing) is changing so fast, we can’t assume any company really knows where it’s headed. But based on what’s possible, we hope to help them turn this into action instead of stagnation.” Industry 5.0 has already appeared on the horizon with technologies that are only now being conceptualized and brought into existence.
New Manufacturing Technologies And The Next Industrial Revolution Are Here
The full report on AA’s research into industry 4.0 will be released in April 2018 for those who were unable to attend last week’s conference centered on deconstructing the “siloed thinking” of manufacturing in its current state and nurturing the “smart factory” megatrend of connecting machines, workers, and factory systems through the internet and cloud computing.
The Industrial Internet Of Things
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) utilized relevant information and completes essential tasks through smartphones, tablets, and other edge devices. Businesses can use this performance data in real-time to adapt and change their operations into a more streamlined process internally and externally for both short-term and long-term gains. This superior connectivity facilitates faster response times from all departments and brings with it improved agility for operations of every size.
Emerging Technologies Are Ushering In A New Industrial Revolution – Industry 4.0
Robotics
As robots become smarter, cheaper, and more efficient in their roles on the factory floor, these entities will command a greater presence in shaping the manufacturing industry. Advances in robotics technology allow these machines to take on more complex traits, including machine learning, heightened dexterity, memory, and the ability to collaborate more effectively. As a result, robots will usher in a new set of standards that every manufacturer will need to adopt to remain relevant.
Advances In Robotics Means Smarter, More Agile, And More Efficient Robots.
Artificial Intelligence
Commonly the subject of doomsday scenario horror films, AI is nothing to discount as the stuff of science fiction gone wrong. The technology is already in our daily lives in the form of self-driving cars and industrial robotics. In manufacturing applications, the technology will become the new standard by which large sets of data are analyzed and predictive maintenance is undergone. In short, companies will have no choice but to “go digital” in order to survive.
The Next Generation Of Artificial Intelligence Will Work side By Side With Humans On The Shop Floor.
Big Data
The means by which we capture data and store it is changing by the day. The even more complex and daunting tasks are how to sift through it and how to identify the relevant bits for different applications. New standards in search, sharing, transfer, visualization, querying, updating and information privacy are emerging as a result. To keep up with the data, rather than being mired in it, manufacturers will need to adopt more robust technologies than traditional data processing software, which is where specialized ERP solutions give your business the critical edge it needs to succeed. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one more example of how automation technologies are increasing productivity and how we manage data in the manufacturing environment.
With More Data To Store And Sift Through, It Will Become Increasingly Necessary For Powerful Tools To Assist In Making Sense Of It All.
The Cloud
In many circles, the cloud is considered a four-letter word. The technology is new and traditional operators across industries are skeptical of its intangible nature. It is not maintained locally and can’t be monitored, stored or secured using traditional methods. That being said, Cloud-based technology is how the companies of the future will operate as it allows in-house users and remote workforces to collaborate in real-time more effectively than with traditional data systems. The cloud approach is faster, improves manageability, and reduces maintenance.
Data Stored Digitally Can Be Utilized And Amended At A Moment’s Notice.
Cybersecurity
As more and more operations move toward cloud-based solutions and rely more heavily on a robotic workforce, maintaining the security and integrity of these systems becomes a much larger issue. In fact, cybersecurity in the manufacturing sector is listed as the highest priority of the National Association of Manufacturers. Industrial control systems are among the most sensitive targets, which is the class of computers that help to manage the shop floor. As more manufacturers simultaneously build and integrate their systems through the industrial Internet of Things, more opportunities for threats emerge.
Cybersecurity Will be One Of The Most Crucial Concepts To Address As New Innovations Bring Change To The Manufacturing Industry.
Advanced Materials And Additive Manufacturing
An emerging advanced manufacturing technology, you might know Advanced Materials And Additive Manufacturing by the more common name of 3D printing. A process that used to take weeks to accomplish on a small scale, 3D printing can know construct large and complex structures, like housing, in less than a day. Organic compounds, custom plastics, and a host of other materials can be utilized in the process, harmonizing product and nature through innovation.
Advanced Materials And Additive Manufacturing Utilizes 3D Printers For Projects Large And Small.
Modeling, Simulation, Visualization, And Immersion
Analyzing, manipulating, and leveraging data is essential when it comes to making decisions on the future of any business. With new forms of visualization, simulation, and interaction available at the press of a button, businesses can leverage the latest technology to more effectively review, report, and forecast using their data. 3D visualization, virtual reality, and immersion tools are just a few of the innovations available to a host of businesses that rely on massive amounts of data daily, including manufacturing, healthcare, sciences, finance, and energy. Beyond data, these innovations and associated tools help develop tech and lead teams to greater success rates with more thorough and effective preparation for mission-critical tasks.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
Congratulations to the first two winners of professional-grade Innova scan tools for their participation in the Epicor Integrated Service Estimator Solution Sweepstakes! The first-place prize winner, Darrin Gilliam of Express Oil Change & Tire Engineers, Daphne, Ala., will receive an Innova 5160 CarScan PRO scan tool. The second-place prize winner, Randy Wilkens of Kwik Kar Automotive, Kansas City, Mo., will receive an Innova 5100 CarScan ABS/SRS tool.
“We congratulate Darrin and Randy for winning the first of 12 Innova scan tools in our six-month promotion,” said Stephen Gannon, senior director, automotive, product management and product development, Epicor Software. “Epicor ISE is a powerful business tool that helps shops grow their mechanical repair volume by streamlining the estimating and parts sourcing processes. Service writers and technicians who rely on ISE can save time and provide a higher level of customer service while earning free chances to win an Innova scan tool. It’s a win-win opportunity for every shop that relies on ISE to drive business growth and improved margin performance.”
The Epicor promotion, which continues through May 31, 2018, will award a total of 12 premium Innova scan tools to Epicor Integrated Service Estimator Solution customers via monthly drawings. Businesses using the web-based solution will automatically earn one free entry with each order generated and completed through the solution. Epicor will randomly select two winners each month to receive either an Innova 5160 CarScan PRO (First-Place Prize) or an Innova 5100 CarScan ABS/SRS (Second-Place Prize). Visit www.epicor.com/ISEsweeps for program rules and alternative form of entry.
Used by thousands of tire dealerships, oil-and-lube facilities, transmission service business, tune-up specialists, and general repair shops, the Epicor Integrated Service Estimator Solution enables users to write comprehensive, accurate repair estimates and identify, price, and source replacement parts in a fraction of the time normally required through manual processes. Parts, labor, and pricing information can automatically be imported into estimates, work orders, and invoices, simplifying the workload for shop service writers. In addition, an optional, mobile “Smart Inspection” feature helps to boost service bay productivity by allowing technicians to record the condition of key vehicle systems and components during comprehensive, guided inspections.
The solution is powered by the Epicor industry-leading replacement parts database, as well as popular repair and maintenance packages, an aftermarket flat-rate labor guide, OEM-recommended vehicle service intervals information, a VIN decoder, cross-reference parts database, and more. To learn more about the solution and the sweepstakes promotion, contact your Epicor representative or visit www.epicor.com/ISEsweeps. For more information about Innova tools and accessories, visit www.pro.innova.com.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
Following the most recent tax reform legislation passed by the federal government, manufacturers of all sizes have enjoyed success in their sectors. This week, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders delivered a daily press brief that highlighted how policies outlined in the new tax law have had a positive impact on businesses. One such success story came from Pittsburg, PA’s H&K Equipment.
Recently Passed US Tax Legislation Has Had A Favorable Impact On The Nation’s Manufacturers.
H&K Equipment’s Story
The company was founded in 1983 by three entrepreneurs and run out of a garage. Today the company has grown to include 200 employees providing services in selling, renting, and servicing lift trucks, container handlers, railcar movers, personnel carriers, yard trucks, and industrial sweeping and scrubbing equipment.
According to company representatives, 2017 had been the company’s best year to date. The success has been attributed directly to the White House’s position on economic and job growth. Tax cuts, in particular, allowed the company to expense new equipment they acquired within the same year and return 50% more on investments made into the company when compared to 2016. According to Sanders, “When they buy more trucks and equipment for their rental fleet, they hire more technicians to service them, buy more service vehicles to transport those techs from customer site to customer site, and buy more parts from their suppliers to keep the rental fleet running. All of this economic activity spurred by the tax bill will result in more jobs, higher wages, and a brighter future.”
H&K Equipment’s Success Story Is Just One Of Many Following The Recently Passed US Tax Legislation. Photo Provided By: H&K Equipment
There are currently 566,000 employed by the manufacturing industry in Pennsylvania alone, with an average annual salary of $72,500 for workers. The state generates $85.13 billion according to a 2015 report on manufacturing output. These growth- and worker-focused policies coming from the current US Administration are leading to big benefits for manufacturing outfits in Pennsylvania and across the country. Beyond mid-sized operators like H&K, conglomerates, including AT&T, Boeing, and Waste Management, have all attributed increased commerce and benefits to employees as results of tax reform. 2018 is expected to usher in further progress in US manufacturing investment, expansion, and employment.
US Manufacturing And Production Make Gains In Q4 Of 2017
2017 was a booming year for manufacturing with overall production rising for a fourth consecutive month in December. That resulted in a 2.4% increase year-over-year according to the Federal Reserve. December’s gains dripped slightly from November’s numbers, but the trend gleaned optimism from industry experts and professionals alike. The increase in production for 2017 has been the highest gain since 2014.
Manufacturers Big And Small Are Reaping The Benefits Of More Favorable Tax Laws that Facilitate Expansion In Investment And Hiring.
The report from the Federal Reserve released this month pulled data from industrial production, manufacturing, durable goods, and nondurable goods. The biggest gains came from industrial production, which jumped 1.6% from September to October, and nondurable goods, which enjoyed the lion’s share of progress in recovering 2.5% from a September low to its highest show in October.
In related news, overall industrial production was up nearly 1% in December, totaling a 3.6% rise for 2017. Peripherally, utilities and mining rose 5.6% and 1.6%, respectively.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
Whether you’re adding additional capabilities to your existing structure or have outgrown your former methodology, you are ready to explore a more robust approach to tackling the challenges of growth. ERP software, such as NetSuite ERP, can support your enterprise across all channels and scale your business.
Food And Beverage Manufacturers Utilize ERP Consultants to Implement ERP Solutions Successfully
Designed with multi-level functionality, these powerful tools can address the needs of multi-company, multi-division, multi-currency, multi-warehouse, and multi-factory operations. Everything from shipping and receiving to accounting and lot control can be optimized using an ERP solution focused on process manufacturing.
You can be operating at one site or with locations scattered across the globe, ERP solutions are designed to address the essential needs of business structures big and small. Let’s touch on a few key points unique to the food and beverage industry and how ERP brings relief from their burdens.
Recipe-Based Formulation
While your employees on the shop floor and executives in the boardroom may know the difference between formulation and bill of materials, your ERP solution should know the finer points just as well. Your products can’t be disassembled like discrete manufacturers’ can, and so you’ve got to get it right with every batch. Not only this, but you’ve got to have the raw materials on hand to deliver each order’s specifications.
ERP Consultants Assist Process Manufacturing Operations Maintain Recipe-Based Formulation Best Practices With Effective ERP Solutions
The easiest way to keep everything running smoothly is to keep your stock at the ready with an ERP solution designed with you and your industry in mind. ERP formulation management capabilities include essential tools, like tracking recipe revisions, processing notes that allow for commenting, and attention sections at every step in the production process with each instance unique to its batch ticket or work order. Not only this, but everyone is on the same page when it comes to historical information, revisions, and amendments to your recipes.
Quality Control
One of the biggest issues facing food and beverage manufacturers is consistency. Delivering your product according to consumer expectations is essential in maintaining your signature taste, experience, and brand. An exceptional ERP solution that addresses quality control for your industry is the only one that will do.
Quality Control Is Made Easy With ERP Solutions Specifically Tailored To Address The Needs Of Food And Beverage Manufacturing Operations.
Keeping a reliable supply of your in-brand ingredients ensures that the quality and stores of bulk products and finished products will be addressed with a quality ERP solution, as well. Beyond the QC of product characteristics, maintaining reliable expiration on every batch you produce is essential and nothing makes it easier to deliver a consistent lifespan of your products than an ERP dedicated to consistent quality control.
Lot Traceability
When it comes to where your products are going once they’ve left processing facilities, there’s really no room for error. This is where ERP solutions can be instrumental in catching poor packaging or disreputable shippers early in the supply chain along as well as assist in circumventing many of the common problems in the industry.
ERP Solutions Improve The Effectiveness Of Lot Traceability And Distribution Management When It Comes To Food And Beverage Manufacturing Operations.
ERP solutions ensure that you know every stop in the journey of your shipments and are equipped to handle issues before they become problems. Using the data gleaned from ERP solutions will ensure the root of the problem is identified and shut down before it can affect your bottom line.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
If today’s small and mid-sized manufacturer is to sustain growth and thrive in today’s global marketplace, they must evolve from some of the practices they used in their early stages. Case in point: the use of Intuit® QuickBooks. In this post, we cover the limitations of QuickBooks software for manufacturers, how to know it’s time to move on, and the benefits of a GAAP-compliant, cloud-based ERP solution for manufacturing industries.
A huge number of small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) adopted the use of QuickBooks to track the finances of their young businesses. However, many of these young businesses soon realize that to manage the business, the scope of business systems needs to go beyond finance. It needs to include the ability to plan, procure, produce, distribute, and sell, as well as to account. In addition, today’s business climate demands more complex transactions, requires more critical planning and tracking of revenues, greater visibility of customers, and involves more stringent accounting and regulatory standards.
The dynamics of today’s markets have changed the competitive landscape for businesses large and small alike. Competing in global and emerging markets, once the domain of large global multinationals, is now within the scope of virtually every commercial enterprise. Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine a manufacturer that doesn’t somehow interact with today’s global manufacturing supply chain.
Technology has broken traditional barriers and “flattened the world.” This flat, new world has sharp edges. Yes, opportunity is greater for all; but so, too, is competition. To compete successfully, companies must have the technical confidence to communicate, collaborate on, and record transactional activities on a scale heretofore unimagined.
Moreover, companies must accommodate an increasingly dispersed workforce, as well as complex, multi-tiered, nuanced supply networks that span continents and are subject to different regulations, taxes, currencies, and so on. While small and mid-sized businesses are empowered by these new market developments, they face greater challenges than their larger competitors because of capital and personnel constraints.
Historically, the transition from QuickBooks to a more robust solution was an agonizing decision for SMBs. The traditional path involved implementing costly, complex, user-challenging, on-premises software. Often these solutions required long and costly deployment cycles, new hardware purchases, and internal IT resources that simply weren’t readily available.
Today, that transition has been eased. The advent of cloud-based, on-demand solutions, often called software as a service (SaaS), has enabled SMBs to better meet the business requirements of the new marketplace. Now they can easily move beyond the simple financial functionality of QuickBooks to more effective and comprehensive solutions for the total business.
A decision to not embrace this new world, driven by both technical and business changes is for many companies a decision to not embrace their full competitive potential.
The Limitations of QuickBooks
QuickBooks has a number of limitations that can hamper SMBs looking to grow in today’s global marketplace, including:
Scalability
Point solution orientation
Narrow visibility
IT concerns and costs
Limited functionality, difficult integration
Access concerns
Difficult adaptation to change
Currency recording issues
Latency
Lack of deep industry capabilities
QuickBooks Lacks Scalability
QuickBooks’ lack of scalability can be an impediment to growth. Companies that implemented the solution as a start-up find that as they have success, the use of QuickBooks can become a limitation. Even enterprise editions of QuickBooks constrain the number of user licenses to 30, making access for all employees that need it difficult in growing businesses. Further, the pressures put on IT when forced to work with (or work around) inefficient software may close or limit opportunities for new business. Businesses that thrive and survive stay ahead of their employees need for technology, rather than struggle in trying to catch up to it. Efficient solutions scale easily as growth occurs.
Point Solution Orientation
QuickBooks accounting-only orientation provides little insight into business opportunities, decision support for client management, or full understanding of the quote-to-cash cycle. Other applications are needed to provide these needs. This proves problematic in a number of ways. Multiple applications are used in order processing, and multiple entry of information is time and cost consuming. Further, the reconciliation of client and billing information can be a serious hassle. Among the unwanted—billing, service, and forecasting problems; impeded cash flow; and unhappy workers and clients.
QuickBooks Provides Narrow Visibility
Since the data in QuickBooks is limited to financials, the information needed to make better-informed decisions across the business typically resides in other applications. The holistic visibility essential in today’s marketplace simply isn’t available through QuickBooks; there is no real-time view of operations. Often this results in excessive use of spreadsheets, a time-consuming and error-prone practice that fails to deliver a current picture of developments. By the time a spreadsheet is in hand, in today’s accelerating and often-volatile environment, the information is dated. This is not a prescription for good decision support. To have a clear understanding of how the business is performing, much more is needed than what QuickBooks provides.
QuickBooks has Limited functionality and a Difficult Integration
With QuickBooks, companies adapt their businesses to the solution, rather than having the application respond to the growing and changing needs of the business. Leading companies
are leveraging multiple applications, such as Financial Management, Product Management, CRM, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management and eCommerce, to automate and precisely track customer interactions in today’s dispersed markets. Rather than having to chase and input data from multiple sources, these applications are integrated to provide users within the business a global view of operations and customer relationships. QuickBooks’ limited integration capability does not easily adapt to this holistic approach.
Worse still, due to the limited and horizontal nature of QuickBooks functionality, best practices for critical manufacturing workflows aren’t provided by default, creating a burden on organizations to define manual processes that have become “norms” in the manufacturing space.
Access Concerns
Not only has the marketplace changed dramatically, so has the way workers engage in their jobs. Today, many companies must provide staff remote access to and input into financial information, which is not something QuickBooks lends itself to. QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions was designed to be deployed on-premise, and lacks built-in remote access capabilities and key security features to protect sensitive financial data.
Further, as companies grow, so does the need to track financial metrics (i.e., revenues, expenses, profitability) across multiple locations, and often multiple continents. QuickBooks lacks the ability to easily gather and consolidate this information. This typically results in multiple QuickBooks records that must be merged manually in spreadsheets, a time- and labor-intensive process that likely fails to yield a seamless financial view of business operations.
Another critical “access” consideration for most companies today is the scope and means of application access. The legacy of QuickBooks complicates providing real-time, online access to customers, suppliers, and partners. Further, the mobile nature of today’s workplace is such that your sales and field service staff likely require real-time access from tablets and smart phones, something not easily provided through legacy applications such as QuickBooks.
QuickBooks is limited in its Adaptation to Change
Today’s commercial marketplace is marked by rapid and often volatile change. Specifically with regard to increasing regulatory and compliance demands, SMBs must be able to trace
and demonstrate the history of transactions and correct them if they were entered improperly. However, QuickBooks only allows users to change history by selecting a single transaction, so auditors monitoring today’s more stringent regulatory demands are challenged by this limitation. It can also raise questions regarding prior adjustments, because they have to be made transaction by transaction, manually, increasing the likelihood of error.
QuickBooks has Currency Recording Issues
In today’s global markets, growing SMBs need to be able to do business in multiple currencies. QuickBooks isn’t designed for this. With the exception of a Canadian version that tracks both U.S. and Canadian dollars, users must create separate files to track multi-currency transactions. This complicates financial recordkeeping and makes it difficult to answer routine manufacturing questions such as “how much should a Canadian customer pay for this component assembled in America from Asian and European sourced components?”
QuickBooks Latency Can’t Keep Up with Real-time data
In today’s business environment, where real-time information is increasingly essential to respond to market developments, the difficulties QuickBooks presents in delivering immediate data across the business is another shortcoming. SMBs cannot afford to operate with dated information, constantly looking for spreadsheets (that no longer are current), or waiting for reports to print. Information must be available where it is needed, when it is needed, and more often than not that is “right now.” QuickBooks struggles with this capability. Paper trails, manual operations, and forecasts based on yesterday’s numbers will not cut it for today’s aspiring SMBs. If they are tethered to an outdated solution, they will soon realize that such solutions are “an enemy of growth.” Outsourcing such critical functionality to third-parties risks creating routine compatibility and support “finger pointing.”
QuickBooks Lacks Deep Industry Knowledge and Capabilities
QuickBooks scratches the surface for a wide variety of industries and chooses to leverage integration partners to offer second level functionality for specific industries such as construction, manufacturing, distribution, and others. For established and growing businesses in these industries, the business best practices offered in the marketplace by systems with deeper industry functionality can be leveraged for growth.
When it’s Time to Move on from QuickBooks
Financial management, revenue management, fixed assets, procurement, order management, billing, inventory management, and services delivery are all complex components of a business that simply cannot be addressed adequately with QuickBooks.
A unified and fully-integrated cloud-based ERP solution is required to address these complex business needs and scale alongside a business’ growth. Unfortunately, companies may not recognize the signs that QuickBooks is more of a hinderance than an asset to the successful management and growth of an organization.
QuickBooks, simply put, leaves too much room for issues that can result from manual processes, errors, a lack of real-time data, and the visibility needed to enact important business decisions. Here are five tell-tale signs that it may be time for your business to consider moving away from QuickBooks and adopt a cloud-based ERP solution:
1. Real-time business data is hard to find
QuickBooks was designed for companies that can afford to wait until month-end to review their financial data. That is not the case with most small and medium sized businesses today. Easily interpreted data that can be accessed in real-time is essential in ensuring a business is thriving, rather than barely surviving.
A small team housed in a single location might be able to manage without any integrated and automated systems because they are closely consolidated. However, once a company grows to include other locations, the speed of information exchange needs to ramp up significantly to ensure everyone is using the right information at any given time. Not only this, data is not easily accessed within the QuickBooks environment. Other systems your business may rely on, such as Salesforce, inventory and warehouse management software, and customer service or CRM systems may only add to the difficulty of dealing with data when time is on the line.
Here are some indicators that your QuickBooks reporting can’t handle your organization’s needs:
Hunting for spreadsheets is a regular occurrence. Businesses running on QuickBooks invariable reach a point where staff depend on spreadsheets for information they don’t have readily accessible. Namely, this is because siloed systems don’t speak to each other and cannot provide data between departments in an easy interface. At this point, your staff begin spending so much time looking for the right spreadsheet for the answers they need, that analysis and decision making takes less time than the search itself.
Reporting is full of errors or no longer relevant. QuickBooks requires numerous manual processes when it comes to customization. When it comes to processing sales orders, updating inventory, and other essential processes, the inevitability of errors grows exponentially. These potential errors ensure that the decision-making process is rife with out-of-date, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
QuickBooks reports take too long to run. Reports that take too long to run are indicative of data sets that are too large for the system to handle. If your reporting takes too long to run, you’re clearly outgrowing the system used to report on that data.
There is no view from 30,000ft/10,000m. A business’ financial data grows over time, often exceeding the confines established when QuickBooks is initially implemented. When doing business across zip codes, state lines, and even in a global sense, QuickBooks is not sufficient in keep all that data visible, compliant and actionable. Without a system that shows your true performance across all departments, there is no way to tell how healthy or unhealthy your business is at any given time.
2. Multiple Systems and Manual Processes are Used for Entering and Reconciling Data
The digital nature of daily life today demands that everything be networked and plugged in. Suppliers, customers, and business managers all need their questions answered on a first-in-line basis. While that may not be realistic in every scenario, we can deliver real and accurate data with the click of a button when systems are all linked into each other and utilizing the same data. QuickBooks lacks that essential functionality, leaving employees holding the bag in times of high-stress, scrambling to copy data between disparate systems and deliver on expectations. Here are a few unmistakable symptoms of a business’ need to transition away from QuickBooks:
Paper-based systems for processing sales orders, order entry, and invoicing. Your employees may spend hours every week manually entering order information into the invoicing system, while someone else copies invoice details into a sales compensation spreadsheet. Data entry errors produce issues that have to be resolved and if a business is piling on these errors over the course of weeks, month-end could mean crisis.
Poor data hygiene can cost supplier and customer relationships. Manual processes make for poor data hygiene. That is, data that is inaccurate and informing your internal processes. When that data is spread between QuickBooks and other siloed systems, all sorts of issues may arise, such as incorrect order details, invoice amounts, or simple contact information that keeps you from keeping in contact with those who need to be notified of updates.
Slow approval processes communicate inefficiencies. Nobody likes waiting on paperwork, particularly customers who are in a race to beat the clock on their own orders. A slow internal approval process can communicate that doing business with your organization is more trouble than it’s worth. As a result, customers may leave for competitors with more modern and streamlined business management systems.
Unnecessary labor leads to unhappy employees. One would think that generating weekly and monthly reports would be easy with a straightforward system like QuickBooks. Unfortunately, posting transactional data across multiple systems takes time to consolidate. Despite knowing what’s expected, other tasks and customer issues can interrupt your regularly scheduled programming. Oftentimes, management is less than understanding because they need their information when they need it, too. Working with a unified system can lighten the load, helps take the burden off of financial staff, and keeps both internal and external stakeholders happy.
Budgeting and forecasting are up in the air. Identifying trends and analyzing historical data is a time consuming process, but necessary for accurate forecasting. When that data isn’t readily available, employees can ballpark figures to give a rough estimate of demand planning in an effort to meet management’s expectations of expedience.
3. Delays in information gathering equate to lost sales
With the mass adoption of eCommerce by businesses across the globe, customers expect all associated inventory data to be available at their fingertips. Not only this, shipping acknowledgements, delivery confirmations and impeccable customer services for ad-hoc order amendments are non-negotiable. While we all wish we could deliver on these demands with unwavering accuracy and responsiveness, it’s simply not realistic with a system like QuickBooks. Scaling a business at the rate of Industry can’t take place unless the systems in which the business operates scale in equal measure.
These indicators may signal you’re outgrowing your QuickBooks system, which could be costing you sales:
Customer service agents struggle due to out-of-date information. Customers, whether new or existing, rely on your customer service team to address their queries, like processing orders or relaying order status. When the data in their system is out of data or non-existent, it reflects poorly on your business as a whole. Even if the data is there, but hard to locate, customer frustrations can come to a head when put on hold or have to wait for a call-back from customer service. This is an all too common result when information resides in another department or location. Whether customers are comfortable filing a formal complaint or not, churn rates and cart abandonment inevitably rise when your business is a chore to work with when compared to others using more modern and capable systems.
Accurate inventory levels are a chore to find. Without a system capable of seeing the big picture, your understanding of SKUs on hand is a shot in the dark at best. QuickBooks-based businesses may only run inventory tracking activities once a month, which can wreck havoc on an investment in departments like eCommerce or cost you the business of valuable enterprise accounts.
Lack of customer and vendor self-service opportunities create bottlenecks. These days, it’s not uncommon for customers or vendors to want to bypass your service department altogether and submit purchase orders or replenish stock levels on their own. Self-service capability allows them to view stock levels, place orders, or check status via the web. QuickBooks can’t accommodate this desirable functionality nor can it operate efficiently or securely day and night.
Consolidating customer data for sales campaigns is a pain. Email campaigns are by no means something new to the world of B2B and B2C sales. Utilizing a system with real-world sales requirements built-in is essential to remaining competitive. QuickBooks can’t capture customer data like an ERP system, leaving you with a wide net that has lots of holes when it comes to targeted marketing and sales activities.
4. Core accounting activities take place in QuickBooks, but a lot more takes place outside of it
QuickBooks wasn’t designed to handle more than the most essential accounting activities. As a result, your operations are limited by the capability of the system. As your business grows, you’ll need to expand your accounting and financial management activities according to liabilities and IRS requirements. With more vendors, customers, and SKUs, comes the need for more robust technology solutions to keep everything organized, accounted for, and running quickly in a streamlined fashion.
Audits, security risks, and system issues are exacerbated by QuickBooks’ lack of reporting an analysis, permissions, ability to address complex financial processes.
QuickBooks has limits and here are a few indicators you may have reached them:
Financial teams have to utilize use several disparate systems to achieve their goals. As a business grows, its financial management needs become increasingly complex. QuickBooks was built with a specific-sized business in mind. Eventually, relying on multiple software applications, scattered Excel spreadsheets, or cobbled-together solutions will erode the organization’s ability to function. If your financial teams have to maintain operational knowledge of multiple systems that are changing independently of one another, they’ve essentially taken on a second job in order to do the one they were originally hired to fulfill. As a result, processes become unnecessarily reliant on applications that pose an increased risk to your business’ smooth operation.
New locations, products, or sales channels are too difficult to bring to market. Businesses have to be adaptable to change. After all, change is the only constant. When your business needs to be agile, so do your systems. Unfortunately, QuickBooks can’t support even simple tasks like applying new tax rates, assigning BOMs, or automatically pull essential data into reports when your teams need.
Pivoting to address changing business conditions is nearly impossible. Unfortunately, no business has a crystal ball to foretell coming changes. As a result, businesses are reactionary and need to remain agile to changing business conditions. QuickBooks simply doesn’t have the functionality to support an organization when change needs to be enacted swiftly. Leveraging a modern, unified ERP system with industry best practices built-in to the solution can mitigate negative impacts of unforeseen disruptions.
5. You’re Spending More Time Fretting Technology Woes Than on Business Performance
With every new level of software added to a business’ technology stack, the organization grows in complexity. Hardware and software are costly to implement and maintain. If external resources are required to keep them operational or train new talent, the costs increase.
Cloud-based business management software designed to address all the essential components of a business do away with the headaches of hardware investment and upkeep, heighten security coverage, and ensure your business systems are unified, always current, and serve all your departments with a single source of truth.
Cloud-based ERP Benefits
Fortunately for SMBs, cloud-based and ERP solutions have rapidly emerged as enablers of growth in the new marketplace. These solutions eliminate the principle barriers that keep companies from implementing more powerful ERP solutions while overcoming the limitations of point solutions such as QuickBooks. Companies looking to replace QuickBooks have multiple options, but increasingly emerging as the best are cloud-based alternatives. In contrast, on-premises solutions require that customers purchase a perpetual license, as well as the hardware to support the software upfront. On the other hand, the advantages of cloud-based and SaaS solutions are significant. A recent post on the ERP Cloud News blog references eight key advantages:
Cost benefits—One of the major reasons for SMBs to turn to cloud-based solutions is to lower the costs of buying licensed software or developing applications in-house. Unlike legacy software, cloud deployment is normally offered on a monthly subscription basis. These charges are applied towards upgrades, ongoing system management, and customer services.
Source: ERP Cloud News
For more information on evaluating the suitability of cloud deployment for your business, refer to the Epicor white paper entitled “The Business Case for Deploying Epicor ERP in the Cloud.”
Easy deployment—Cloud-based applications are provided as web-based applications. Companies can therefore avoid the lengthy process of installation and integration that is common with licensed software.
Zero maintenance—With cloud solutions, issues related to maintenance and upgrade are normally taken care of by the cloud-based application provider.
Mobility—Since software is hosted in the cloud, it can be accessed on any Internet enabled device—and from anywhere.
Security—Cloud-based services typically offer better security than local data centers can usually provide. This ensures access to better security tools without affecting current IT budgets. Data security typically is included in a vendor SLA for SaaS services.
Better service—Often cloud providers guarantee that services are available on a real-time basis with minimum loss in production time. Terms and conditions related to outage and compensation, if a situation arises, are usually addressed in the SaaS provider’s agreement.
Stay current—Your business will always be running the latest technology available with automated upgrades.
Backups and disaster management—With cloud-deployed systems, data is automatically updated and stored on a daily basis.
Better adoption—Employees typically find it more convenient to use cloud software. Therefore, there is little learning curve for the solution, and organizations can save costs related to worker training.
For those hanging onto QuickBooks, these benefits should provide compelling reasons to explore more powerful solutions.
Advantages of Epicor Kinetic ERP in the Cloud
Cloud-deployed Epicor ERP is specifically designed for manufacturers and distributors looking to upgrade operations by moving from point solutions like QuickBooks to a more sophisticated and powerful solution tailored to meet business requirements in today’s rapidly changing global marketplace.
Epicor Kinetic is a Superior Tool for Financial Management
Epicor Kinetic is a GAAP, SOX, and ICA-compliant financial management tool. QuickBooks is essentially a ledger software. Epicor also enables double entry bookkeeping and Sub-ledger to General Ledger posting, reconciliation and interaction.
Epicor also enables businesses to bring your inventory online to accurately track and account for their assets and COS, rather than depending on expense tracking and sales.
At Encompass, we get frustration from them and comments like “no one told me that had to change” or “I didn’t have to do that in QB”, which can be an indicator that your financial staff don’t really know what true IRS driven business accounting is; they just know what the tax accountant who likes QB’s wants.
So, to start we make sure they have politely heard that Epicor Kinetic isn’t an accounting system, it is a business system and accounting is part of the business.
Epicor Kinetic ERP for Manufacturers
Epicor Cloud ERP leverages core functionality that has been in use and proven at thousands of manufacturers. With this solution, the manufacturer is provided with everything in one integrated system to manage the business. It eliminates the need for separate applications, spreadsheets, and manual processes, delivering the functionality to manage:
Customers and contacts
Opportunities and orders
Products and production
Shipping and receiving
Accounting and payroll
Whether the SMB is a job shop, custom make-to-order, or mixed-mode manufacturer, that serves a single industry or multiple complex (including highly regulated) industries—in whatever way the company accounts, costs, and manufactures—this on-demand, cloud-based system is flexible enough to support any discrete manufacturer’s needs. Modular in design, Epicor Cloud ERP offers scalability in implementation to enable growing businesses to expand functionality as needed without the overhead of functionality they may not be ready for initially.
The software is cloud-based, on-demand ERP and is fully multi-tenant, and based on a service-oriented architecture (SOA) in which a number of customers share the same application instance with their data kept separate from one another. They are based on an SOA foundation that simplifies integration with other systems and allows for modular deployments. Some of the capabilities found in the Epicor Cloud ERP solution include:
Comprehensive production management and data collection
Quality and compliance management
Extensive product data management including product revision control
Embedded resource and equipment scheduling
Extensive materials management including cradle-to-grave serial and lot control
Support for lean initiatives
Comprehensive supply chain management
Embedded maintenance management
End-to-end management of complex multi-phase projects
Move to Cloud ERP for Manufacturers
Moving from a point solution such as QuickBooks to an integrated solution for today’s global marketplace is like moving from building things one at a time to the assembly line. Such moves are necessary, particularly in times where change is accelerating and often volatile, and the ability to respond to and anticipate change demands delivery of real-time data to the point of execution.
There used to be a serious capital barrier for small and mid-sized companies to adopt business systems; with the advent of the cloud, those barriers have been erased. Businesses failing to capitalize on this opportunity have only themselves to blame. The time for better and more responsive solutions is now. It is how we seize opportunity and move forward intelligently.
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
With 6 facilities and over 300 manufacturing employees, the sheer cost of licensing and hardware, as well as the volume of transactions recorded on the shop floor, presented a challenge for Mickey Truck Bodies (Mickey), but Encompass had the perfect solution to enhance their Epicor system: Bezlio! The unique Bezlio interface offers a flexible enhancement to Epicor using “Bezls” that provide the ability to add key features without significant expense.In addition, they are able to use the Bezls from anywhere in their shop, even where WiFi may be spotty.
Mickey manufactures all-aluminum beverage bodies and beverage trailers, dry freight, and refrigerated van bodies, emergency vehicles and specially engineered equipment for customers throughout the U.S. and more than 50 other countries.The company operates a national network of full-service Reconditioning/Service Centers and a complete Parts Shop with genuine Mickey Parts as well as parts for most competitive makes and models.
Bezlio Interface: Real-Time Inventory Transfer App
To increase efficiency, Mickey desired an inventory transfer solution to enable users to issue multiple materials to a job from mobile devices. The user begins the process by entering their employee ID, and then inputs the job and optionally the assembly/operation.A list of buttons is presented per the material requirements.Inventory on hand is displayed, and the user can tap or scan the barcode of the warehouse/bin they wish to pull from, indicate the quantity, and move on to the next material. When all inventory selections are specified, the user clicks the ‘Issue Materials’ button, and all transactions are processed in real time.
Bezlio Interface: Production Labor Transactions On Mobile Devices
The design of the Bezlio interface provides the ability to track production transactions from mobile devices.Users can clock in, clock out, start/stop production activities, and start/stop indirect activities. The end activity screen for production activities allows for the input of completed quantities as well as scrap. When clocked into a production activity with attachments defined at the job level, such as an Assembly Guide, they are presented as buttons that can be tapped to display in a built-in PDF viewer.
Bezlio is a cost-effective solution for using mobile devices to efficiently capture and record shop floor data in real-time.Because Mickey has multiple facilities utilizing Epicor, there is a huge saving on MES user licenses and workstation hardware costs, estimating between $80,000 – $90,000.In addition, transactions from all locations are streamlined and controlled, making data entry and collection easier while simultaneously enforcing critical business rules.
Ready for your business to run with a killer toolset?
Encompass Solutions is a business and software consulting firm that specializes in ERP systems, EDI, and Managed Services support for Manufacturers and Distributors. Serving small and medium-sized businesses since 2001, Encompass modernizes operations and automates processes for hundreds of customers across the globe. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. By identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.
